Act-obatics

Cirque du Soleil has become an international brand name by bringing theatricality to circus performance. Though it doesn't yet have a standing engagement at Disney World or an IMAX movie, the DynamO Théâtre Company has built its own worldwide rep by doing the opposite: bringing such circus staples as gymnastics, acrobatics, dance, clowning, and juggling to the theater.

And make no mistake, DynamO's Saturday engagement in Lake Worth will not be merely a small-scale circus performance. This brand of acrobatic theater is still theater, with plots, themes, and characters. The group (which, like Cirque du Soleil, was founded in Quebec in the early '80s) simply drives its narratives with back flips and cartwheels more than with dialogue.

For its South Florida show, the group performs Mur-Mur (The Wall), the story of two teenage couples and one annoying little brother. The play, which the company has performed more than 1300 times, is a humorous yet poignant look at the friendships, fights, and confusion that are a part of this awkward time in life. A little dialogue is employed, but these performers let their feats do most of the talking.

The action revolves around the teens' hangout, a ten-foot-high wall that could easily be the side or rear of any typical store in any typical suburban town. Using this wall and the handholds and footholds on it, the players perform a dizzying array of flips, twists, and somersaults, at times seeming to defy gravity. While the show is geared toward kids age seven and older, these Canadian tumbling thespians could thrill viewers of any age. Maybe dialogue isn't all it's cracked up to be.